


Evil Author Day 2021

by HarleyJQuin



Series: Evil Author Day [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Evil Author Day, M/M, Stiles Stilinski Accepts The Bite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:34:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarleyJQuin/pseuds/HarleyJQuin
Summary: This is an idea that is percolating, I have parts written from later in the story but the middle is giving me fits. I will get there eventually.Posted for Evil Author Day 2021
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Evil Author Day [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2161299
Comments: 108
Kudos: 330





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Check out [Jilly James’ Intro to Evil Author Day](http://jillyjames.com/fiction/evil-author-day/) for more information into my favourite day of the year.
> 
> Betas/Enablers: [Dark_Nights_Syn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Nights_Syn/pseuds/Dark_Nights_Syn), [QueenieKildare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenieKildare).

**October 14th, 2011**

Stiles was frustrated, sleep-deprived, and angry. Over the last few weeks, his nightmares had been getting worse, bad enough that he was screaming himself awake most nights and keeping his father awake as well.

He knew his dad, Sheriff Stilinski, needed the sleep which is why he’d snuck out after his dad had gone to bed and he was hiding out at Derek’s loft to try and get some sleep. At least here, if he screamed himself awake he wouldn’t disturb anyone else and his dad might get the sleep he needed to fend off Agent Douche and the impeachment he was trying to push through.

The loft was in the middle of the industrial area of Beacon Hills, so in theory, he could scream until he was hoarse and no one would hear him. He didn’t think Derek would mind, especially since he’d had given him a spare key before he left in case of emergencies.

He’d tried to bring up the dreams with Scott at school, but Scott was more interested in staring longingly at Allison and the new girl, Kira Yukimura. He didn’t even bother trying to mention the issues he was having when he tried to read his books, any of his books. He was just lucky he had been able to bluff his way through his classes.

He’d settled in upstairs, in one of the spare beds, and tried to get some sleep. It was short-lived as he woke again, screaming himself hoarse. He was surprised though with the arms wrapped around him trying to stop him from flailing and the body sitting at the end of the bed.

“Zombiewolf?” Stiles croaked, “When did you get back?”

Peter looked concerned as he said, “We got back around twenty minutes ago. We didn’t expect to find you hiding up here.”

Stiles looked back and he saw Derek holding him tight, “Oh hey, Sourwolf. Sorry.”

Derek asked, “Sorry?”

Stiles looked sheepish as he said, “I know it’s not exactly an emergency, but my nightmares were affecting Dad and he’s got Agent McDouche trying to get him fired right now. I figured I would try and sleep here so he could get a good night's sleep.”

Derek could smell the misery and fear coming from Stiles and he asked, “Is it just the nightmares?”

Stiles shook his head but he refused to say more. To try and deflect he asked, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Peter nodded, “We hope so. We’ll need your help to check though. It seems the jar is buried in a trunk filled with mountain ash.”

The teen checked his watch, it was only 1 am, so he’d managed to get just over an hour of sleep. “Let me have a quick shower and I’ll be right down.” The nightmare had yet again left him sticky and sweaty and feeling all over gross.

Peter and Derek stood and Derek said, “There are towels in the bathroom cabinet, we’ll wait for you downstairs.”

Half an hour later Stiles quietly walked down the spiral staircase and found the wolves sitting in front of an old wooden trunk drinking hot drinks. Stiles assumed chocolate based on the smell permeating the loft. Derek made the best hot chocolate, he used real chocolate to make it super-rich.

Derek reached out as he went to walk to the kitchen and pulled him down between the two wolves on the sofa. Peter handed over a third cup that had been sitting out of sight behind the trunk.

Stiles murmured, “Thanks, Peter. It’s just what I needed.” He looked at the trunk and noticed it seemed fairly standard for an old wooden trunk, so he asked, “So, what’s in the trunk?”

Derek said, “Hopefully, it’s my mother’s claws. Provided the information we paid for was correct.”

Peter snarled, “If it’s not then we return and show our displeasure.”

Stiles whispered, “Zombiewolf, your inner psycho is showing.”

Derek couldn’t stop the laughter that burst out at the sass. He leaned forward and opened the box and he asked, “Can you reach into the ash, there should be a wooden jar buried in the ash.”

Stiles looked at him nervously, “You promise it’s not pranked?”

Derek nodded, “It should be fine, Stiles. If it’s not, we’re right here and will protect you.”

The teen reached forward and started to dig around in the mountain ash, it didn’t take him long to feel the jar he was looking for. As soon as he had a good grip on it he pulled out and shook off the ash before handing the jar to Derek. He saw the triskelion carved into the top and he asked, “So her claws are inside?”

Derek nodded, “Laura collected them after the fire, it was all that was left of her. Dr. Deaton gave her the jar to keep them in, she said it was made of Nemeton wood. Laura told me she’d put them in the vault before we left for New York, but then Cora told us about rumors she heard from her alpha that the Calaveras hunters had them hidden away.”

Stiles muttered, “Fucking hunters.” He looked at the jar and he asked, “Wait, you said it’s made of Nemeton wood? But Deaton told us he didn’t know where the Nemeton was. It’s why we had to do that fucking ritual.”

Peter asked silkily, “What ritual, Stiles?”

Stiles shrugged, he wasn’t sure what the ritual was called, he’d asked the pet vet but the doctor had evaded the question, as per fucking usual. “I don’t know. Deaton wouldn’t tell me. Honestly, I was too worried about Dad being missing to question it. All I know is we were drowned and we ended up in a white room that told us how to find the Nemeton. It’s all a bit of a blur.”

Peter picked up the jar and in an attempt to hide his anger at the druid he passed the jar to Derek and he said, “How about you do the honors and check to see if her claws are inside. Then we can sort out the ritual so you can ask your questions.”

Derek took the jar and he twisted the lid, first clockwise until it clicked then he pulled the lid and twisted anti-clockwise until the lid came off. Peter slid the trunk backward on the coffee table so Derek had room when he shook out the contents of the jar and five claws came tumbling out.

Stiles shuddered, “Well, yep, that’s claws alright. So what’s the plan?”

Peter shuddered and he said, “I would still like to lodge a protest.”

Derek scowled, “Lodge all the protests you want, but you owe me, Uncle Peter.”

Peter nodded and he gathered the claws and dropped them carefully into the slots in the jar. He hovered his hand over the jar and he asked, “Are you sure? This is going to be painful.”

Derek reached over Stiles and he pushed Peter’s hand into the jar as he said firmly, “I’m sure.”

Stiles looked green as he said, “Well that’s gross.”

Derek moved to a chair he had set up earlier that he could straddle and lean on so Peter had access to his neck.

Peter stood behind him with Talia’s claws embedded in his fingertips and he asked, “Last chance nephew, are you sure?”

Derek dropped his head on his arms in front of him and he said, “Just do it.”

Peter snapped his arm forward and drove the claws into the back of Derek’s neck.

Stiles stood, shocked, and he demanded, “What are you doing?”

Peter looked up and he said, “It’s a wolf thing, if I went in with my claws I would be able to remove Derek’s memories or even alter them. But because I have my sister’s claws embedded in my fingertips, it lets Derek talk to her as if she was still here, still alive.”

Stiles grinned, “That’s cool, slightly morbid, but cool for Sourwolf.”

Derek, however, was not able to hear what was going on around him. He found himself in the loft, but there was a large tree stump in the middle of the room. From the way Stiles had described it after he’d found their parents, Derek assumed it was the Nemeton. He could hear claws clicking on the concrete outside the open door and he turned to face whoever, or whatever was coming.

The large back wolf entered the room and jumped easily onto the stump and faced him. “Mom? No, your eyes are wrong, you’re not mom. Who are you?”

The wolf transformed and he found an older version of his Uncle Peter standing before him. He tilted his head as though examining a puzzle and he asked, “Who are you?”

The man smiled, “I’m your grandfather, Peter and Talia’s father. Sebastian Hale. The claws Laura found in the basement were mine. My daughter had kept them as a trophy.”

Derek asked, “Why?”

Sebastian looked incredibly sad. “I’m not sure you’re ready to hear that my boy. Now, you went to a lot of effort with my son to find the claws. Ask your question I might be able to help you.”

Derek nodded, “It’s the True Alpha thing. Is it real?”

Sebastian nodded, “Yes it’s real. A True Alpha is created by Nemeta, like the original Hale alpha spark. It was created by the Beacon Hills Nemeton before Beacon Hills even existed. But Alpha McCall is not a true alpha. His alpha spark was stolen from Ennis as he died, before it could be absorbed by Deucalion.”

Derek rolled his eyes, “Let me guess, Deaton.”

Sebastian nodded, “My biggest regret. That man has been moving pieces around on his chessboard for longer than you’ve been alive. He has plans for Alpha McCall, plans that you and your little mini-pack are interfering with.”

Derek frowned, “So, Deaton planned all this, was it his intention to give Scott my spark? Was it him who poisoned Cora?”

Sebastian shook his head, “I’m not sure who poisoned Cora, I can only watch those who have a pack bond with the Hale Alpha. Your spark is waiting for you to claim it. The Hale spark has been part of our family for so long, the alpha spark can’t actually be claimed by anybody but a born Hale.”

Derek nodded, “So what do I have to do?”

Sebastian smiled, “You just have to pledge your loyalty to the Hale Pack, that no matter what, you will be the alpha the Hale pack needs. That you will protect the Hale Pack with everything you have. The words aren’t important, it’s your intent that matters.”

Derek nodded, “Alright.”

Sebastian asked, “Can you pass a message to Peter, to my son?”

Derek smiled, “Sure.”

“Tell him there is nothing to forgive,” Sebastian stated, “When he killed his niece he was not in his right mind due to her own actions. Laura abandoned him knowing hunters would be able to find him, she was hoping they would kill him.”

Derek growled, “Then she got what she deserved.”

Sebastian asked, “And you understand that what happened to your pack wasn’t your fault?”

Derek smiled softly, “Stiles has drummed it into me enough that I finally believe it.”

Sebastian grinned, “That mate of yours believes you deserve nice things, Derek Hale. I find I agree wholeheartedly. No matter what happens know that I love you both. I always will. Watch out for Deaton, his actions will have far-reaching consequences.”

He pulled Derek into a tight hug before pushing him out of the vision.

Derek fell, gasping before he turned and pulled Peter into a hug. He murmured, “They weren’t Talia’s claws.”

Peter pulled back and looked at the claws in his hand, “What?”

Derek chuckled and he carefully pulled his grandfather's claws out of Peter’s fingertips and he carefully put them down on the table one at a time. “They were your dad’s. Sebastian Hale? He looked like an older version of you.”

Peter grinned, “I was a chip off the old block. Why would Laura have Dad’s claws?”

Derek shrugged, “He said something about Talia keeping them as a trophy.”

Peter and Stiles both gasped and Stiles commented, “Dude, that makes it sound like she killed him.”

Peter agreed, he knew that his dad died not long after his mother. She was the alpha and everyone thought the spark would go to Talia when she died but it went to their dad. “He died about two weeks after mom. No one knew how. Fuck. What else did he say?”

Derek said, “He told me to tell you there is nothing to forgive. You were well within your rights to kill Laura after she left you hoping the hunters would find and kill you.”

Stiles snarled, “That bitch!”

Derek nodded, “Agreed. I know she wasn’t kind to me as an alpha but I didn’t realize she’d wanted Peter found. He also told me Scott isn’t a True Alpha.”

Stiles sat hard on the sofa and he asked quietly, “What?”

Peter pulled him into a hug as Derek explained, “Apparently Deaton stole the alpha spark from Ennis when Deucalion killed him, and he found a way to give it to Scott in a dark ritual. He warned me not to trust Deaton.”

Peter said, “Well that makes three of us that don’t trust the cryptic bastard.”

Stiles shook his head, “Four, dad doesn’t trust him either. He’s still pissed about him pushing us into that ritual.”

Peter grinned as he purred, “Well, Noah’s a smart man.”

“I don't want to know.” Stiles said with a grimace, he looked at Derek and he asked, “Did your grandfather say anything else?”

Derek nodded and he stood to stand in the center of the loft. He said formally, “I, Derek Sebastian Hale, swear my loyalty to the Hale Pack of Beacon Hills. I swear to protect my pack, to give them my loyalty as long as they are loyal to the pack, that I will honor the legacy of the Hales before me, and that I will do my best to be the alpha the Hale Pack needs.”

He fell to his knees as the cleansed alpha spark hit him, he looked at the two men in front of him as his eyes blazed a brilliant red and he said, “It feels different, cleaner.”

Stiles nodded, “If your mother killed her own pack for the spark and then Laura abandoning pack, it would have corrupted it a fair bit.”

Peter asked, “Do you still have the pack bonds?”

Derek shook his head, “Just to the two of you, and I have no urge or want to create more betas.”

Stiles nodded, “It kind of makes sense. I do wonder though if you remember those discussions we had about my mom when we were searching for Erica and Boyd?”

Derek narrowed his eyes and he asked, “About how she died, sure. Why?”

Stiles swallowed nervously and he said, “The nightmares aren’t just nightmares and they are the tip of the iceberg. I’m having dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake. And sometimes, I’m not even sure if I’m actually ever waking up.”

Derek asked, “What do you mean, Stiles?”

“Do you do how you can tell you’re dreaming,” Stiles asked, haltingly, “You can’t read in dreams. More and more, over the past few weeks, I’ve been having trouble reading. It’s like the letters are there but they are scrambled. I’m scared what’s happened to mom is happening to me.”

Derek felt for Stiles, he knew losing control of his mind was one of Stiles’ biggest fears. That for someone so smart, Stiles' brain was something he was proud of, and the illness his mother had would rip that away from him. He said quietly, “I did promise you. Do you want to think about it?”

Stiles shook his head and Peter, sick of the cryptic speech, demanded to know what was going on.

Derek said, “Stiles mother died of Frontotemporal Dementia, it’s a disease that affects the brain, effectively making it shrink.”

Peter leaned into Stiles to offer him support and he asked, “So you’re going to bite him?”

Stiles nodded, “It has to be early, from what I have researched the bite is unpredictable with brain diseases. If the brain is too far gone the bite will fail. So it has to be now, tonight.”

Derek nodded as he knelt in front of Stiles, between his legs with his hands resting on his thighs. “You’re sure?”

With a decisive nod Stiles pulled up his tee-shirt but Derek shook his head with a soft smile, “Before I bite you I have to explain. There is lore around the bite, it’s something that is not often written, but where you get the bite has meaning.” 

He touched Stiles' side just above the hip and he said, “This is where one would bite a beta, someone you want in the pack but not for any specific position.”

When Stiles nodded in understanding, knowing that’s where the alpha had bitten Jackson, Isaac, Boyd, and Erica he continued.

He grasped Stiles' hand and he kissed the inside of his wrist, happy that Stiles was receptive to his touch he said, “This is where one would bite someone they intend to be their second, their right hand.” 

Stiles snapped his head around to Peter and he asked, “Really?”

Peter grinned, “Even out of my mind I knew you were the smart one, the one that would be magnificent, the one I would have been proud to have by my side.”

Derek pulled Stiles into his lap so he was straddling Derek’s thighs and he gently kissed Stiles neck, smiling when Stiles tilted his head to allow him to get even closer as he explained, “This is where one would bite their mate, the one who will stand by their side, the one to be their equal. This is where I would like to bite you, if you’ll have me, Mieczysław Genim Stilinski.”

Stiles whispered, “You want me as your mate? Forever?”

Derek nodded, “For eternity. I’ve known since that night outside your father’s office after the fire, you sat there with your big brown eyes and shared your last peanut butter cup with me. I was waiting until you turned eighteen to tell you.”

Stiles smacked Derek’s arm and he said, “I am eighteen. I turned eighteen nearly a month ago.”

Peter frowned, “I thought you were a Junior.”

Stiles nodded, “I am I had to repeat a year after mom died, I had issues with her death and then the whole ADHD diagnosis mess. By the time everything was sorted I was happier staying in the same grade as Scott rather than testing out. I turned eighteen the day the darach took dad, I spent the night searching for him, and everyone sort of forgot.” He turned to look at Derek and with a tilted neck he said, “Bite me? Please.”

Peter said, “Stiles, to complete the mate bond, you’ll have to bite him back, you should feel the start of the bond-forming, when you do lean forward and bite Derek’s neck hard enough to draw blood. The bite marks on both of you will scar to show you are mated.”

Derek shifted to his beta shift and he leaned forward and bit down hard on Stiles' neck.


	2. Chapter Two

**October 14th, 2011**

Stiles felt immense pain as Derek bit down hard into his neck, he had a fleeting worry that the bite was too hard or had pierced the artery, but that faded as soon as he could feel the bond Peter had told him about starting to form. While Derek was still biting down on his neck he carefully maneuvered around and he bit down hard into Derek’s neck, only stopping when he could taste blood on his tongue.

Peter saw the pair were doing ok without his help so he disappeared upstairs to give them some privacy, but also to get some towels and gauze ready so they could clean up after the bond had settled.

Derek gently withdrew his teeth once he was sure the bite had taken and he leaned his forehead to Stiles’ as he said, “My mate. Come on let’s go get you cleaned up then we can go and try and get some sleep. It’s late. Hopefully, as the bite takes the nightmares will start to fade and you might get some good sleep.”

He stood and pulled Stiles into a soft gentle kiss, before pulling him up the spiral staircase to the upper level.

Stiles was surprised that he managed to have a dreamless sleep as he snuggled into his alpha, he finally woke up, feeling rested at 11 am the next morning.

He felt the other side of the bed and it was still warm so he knew Derek must have just gotten up. He went down to the kitchen to see if Derek had any coffee ready to drink.

Derek smiled as he handed over Stiles coffee, prepared just how he liked it. He asked, “Sleep well?”

Stiles was about to reply but he started coughing, Derek tried to pat him on the back but it wasn’t helping and he felt like he was choking on something in his throat. 

Derek called out in a panic, he was worried Stiles was rejecting the bite even though it didn’t seem at all like what he’d seen with Paige, “Uncle Peter! Something’s wrong with Stiles.”

Stiles was now on his hands and knees on the floor of the kitchen, still coughing when he spat out what looked like an insect. It seemed to shake itself off before it started to move and it looked like it was going to fly away.

Derek darted in quickly and trapped it between his hands.

Peter asked, “What is it?”

Stiles shrugged, “It looked like a firefly with the glow it had, but that can’t be right, California doesn’t have fireflies that glow.”

Derek shook his head, “It doesn’t feel natural. I can’t squash it, and it’s fighting to try fly out of my hands.”

Peter looked around and he saw the wooden jar the claws were in still sitting on the coffee table where they’d left them the night before. He picked it up with the lid in his other hand and he suggested, “Derek, we can put it in here and then bury it in the mountain ash until we can do some research and figure out what the hell it is.”

Derek nodded and he waited for Peter to hold the jar up before he let the firefly go. Peter quickly caught it with his wolfy reflexes and sealed the bug inside the jar.

Derek held his hand out when he could see his uncle was having to make an effort to hold the jar and he said, “Let's bury it before it breaks the jar.”

Stiles offered, “If we can’t bury it I’ll call dad. I need to call him and let him know what’s going on anyway.”

Peter asked, “Not Ms. Martin? The other human in your life?”

Stiles shook his head, “She’s not in the Hale pack, she doesn’t get to know pack business. They don’t get to know anything.”

Derek handed over a fresh cup of coffee and he asked, “You’re not telling them you took the bite?”

With a shrug, Stiles admitted, “I doubt they’ll notice. Isaac might as he actually uses his senses, but I’m allergic to douche and I avoid him like the plague. If they ask I probably won’t lie.”

Peter grinned and he said, “You probably won’t tell them anything of substance either.”

Stiles poked his tongue out at the older wolf and he admitted, “Probably not. Look, like I said last night, I tried to talk to Scott about my nightmares and he blew me off, again. He was more interested in following Allison like a puppy and drooling over the new girl at school.”

Derek laughed, “Same shit, different week.”

“Pretty much,” Stiles agreed. He quickly grabbed the jar from Peter and he pushed the jar into the trunk of mountain ash and he checked thoroughly to make sure the jar was well buried. When he was satisfied he stepped back and clapped the remaining ash off his hands, “Right, now that that’s done, let me go grab my phone so I can call dad.”

He sprinted up the stairs and Derek sagged as he watched him go. “What the fuck Uncle Peter. This late in the turn he shouldn’t be able to touch mountain ash. Is he rejecting the bite slowly like Gerard? Between the coughing fit and this, I have to wonder.”

Peter chuckled and pulled him in for a hug. “Nephew, if he was going to reject the bite we would have seen signs of it last night, there would’ve been black goo in with the firefly. He’ll be fine.” He gave the trunk a speculative glance before he murmured, “Perhaps not a wolf, but he’ll be fine.”

Derek swallowed hard, “I hope you’re right, I don’t think I can handle losing anyone else.”

Stiles wrapped himself around the two men when he came back downstairs and he murmured, “I’m not going anywhere, Sourwolf.” He stepped away and started going through the cupboards, “Daddio’s on his way over, let’s sort something for lunch. I can try and butter him up with some red meat.”

Peter shook his head and he picked up his keys, “I’ll grab something from the diner for the four of us. We’ll need to do some shopping later.”

“Thanks, Zombiewolf.” Stiles stood up from where he was looking through the fridge, “If you go to the diner near the station and ask for dad’s cheat day order, they should sort you out with his favorite.”

Derek and Stiles settled on the sofa in front of the trunk and they checked to make sure the firefly was still buried. Derek sat with a sigh when he saw the flat layer of mountain ash. There were occasional tremors that showed in the layer of ash, as the still moving insect inside was trying to escape.

He offered, “I’ll take you to the vault this afternoon if you’re interested. We can see if any of Uncle Peter’s rarer books help us figure out what the hell that is, and why it came out of you. I also need to update the locks to keep Deaton from entering.”

Stiles asked, “Won’t you need a magic-user for that?”

Derek shook his head, “No, the wards were designed so they can only be updated by the Hale Alpha.”

Stiles leaned back in his seat, “Let’s hope this afternoon I can read. It would be such a waste to finally get access to rare books only for my stupid brain to prevent me from reading them.”

The alpha stood and moved to the bookshelf that was cleverly hidden away at the back of the room, he scanned through the books and pulled out a book with a distinctive red cover. He stalked back to the sofa and sat down beside his mate and he held out the book. “Give this one a try.”

Stiles took the small book noting that it seemed incredibly old. Derek explained, “It’s one of the few we have that explains pack hierarchy and lore. It also goes into the traditions around each of the full moons.”

Stiles looked at it nervously, there were no words on the cover that he could use to reassure himself. 

Derek stood when he heard the cruiser approach and he went to open the door for the sheriff. He hoped that Stiles would use the privacy to see if he could read again. He smiled at the scent of relief coming from his mate, he asked, “All good?”

Stiles nodded with a tremulous smile, “Yeah, Sourwolf. It’s all good.” He settled in to read as Derek waited for his dad.

Noah walked up to the loft, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting but the sight of his son curled up on the sofa in rumpled sleep clothes wasn’t it. Noah raised an eyebrow and he asked, “Care to explain?”

Derek shrugged, “We found him hiding upstairs trying to get some sleep when we got home last night. He said he’d snuck out to let you get some sleep.”

“Ahh,” Noah said, “Trying to save me from the nightmares. I got called out about an hour after I went to bed last night. Bad accident on the edge of the preserve that needed a senior officer.”

Derek nodded, “He was in the throes of one when we got here. It looked pretty horrific from a bystander point of view.”

Noah whispered, “It’s the screams, it sounds like he’s being tortured.”

Derek, wanting to lighten the mood, commented, “He got six hours uninterrupted sleep when he finally went back to bed. He actually looks rested. Although… No, that’s for him to tell you.”

They approached Stiles and Noah took a seat beside him and tried to read over his shoulder. “I haven’t seen you this engrossed for weeks, kiddo.”

A tear fell down Stiles' cheek and he angrily wiped it away as he said, “I haven’t been able to read for a few weeks now. Today is the first day the words haven’t looked scrambled or wrong.”

Noah pulled his kid into his arms and hugged him tightly. He asked, “What changed? Was it getting some sleep?”

Stiles shook his head and he asked, “Do you remember when Boyd and Erica were missing? I was helping Derek look for them that summer. We talked a lot, about our families, about the fire, and about what happened to Mom. He promised me that if I started showing symptoms, he would give me the bite.”

Noah looked at Derek, “Son, I thought you gave up your alphathingy to cure Cora? Wouldn’t that mean you can’t do the turning bite?”

Derek nodded, “I did.” He gestured to the claws on the coffee table in front of the trunk, “I found out from my grandfather that I was able to claim the alpha spark back.”

Stiles enthused, “It was awesome, even I could feel the power of the alpha spark flooding the room as it accepted him.”

Noah asked, “So you took the bite?”

Stiles nodded and he pulled down the neck of his tee-shirt to show his father the bite scar. He said hesitantly, “I couldn’t do that to you, die slowly like Mom, I mean. It was my worst fear, going out of my mind, accusing everyone I know of being demons.”

Noah demanded, “The bite fixes conditions like hers?”

Derek waved his hand in a so-so motion as he explained, “Sort of, it has to be caught super early, by the time most humans would investigate it would be too late. Stiles and I had discussed the probability of him developing it over that summer since it’s a genetic disorder. When I found out how damaging it was I offered the contingency plan. I know Stiles was happy on Team Human but we both agreed this was an option that would save you both.”

Noah agreed. He didn’t think he would survive losing his son the same way he’d lost his wife. He looked Stiles over with a critical eye, he saw that his son was looking better than he’s looked in a few weeks. “Thank you, were there any issues with the bite? Also, do I want to know why you bit him on the neck, somewhere so visible?”

Stiles sighed, “It’s a mating bite, Dad.” When he saw Noah’s anger starting to rise he asked quickly, “Did you know he’s the only person I’ve ever shared my peanut butter cups with. That night after the fire, Derek was waiting outside your office while you and Laura were talking and I gave him a few of my peanut butter cups. He said he knew then that we were mates.”

Derek smiled, “You seriously haven’t shared with anyone else?”

Noah laughed, “Not even his mom, and she’s how he got started with the addiction. Now, don’t think I missed you evading the question about issues.”

Stiles looked away and Derek explained, “There was a bit of an odd moment this morning, he coughed up a firefly, one of the bioluminescent ones.”

Noah frowned, “That’s not normal is it?”

Derek shook his head, “No, and I couldn’t crush it when I tried. We captured it in a jar made from the wood of the Nemeton, and placed it in the trunk buried in mountain ash.”

He opened the trunk and Noah could see the tremors of movement ripple on the surface of the ash. He asked incredulously, “That’s from the firefly?”

Derek and Stiles both nodded, Stiles snarked, “He’s a tough little bugger, even when I was pushing the jar down into the ash I could feel him battering the sides trying to escape. Derek is going to take us to the Hale Vault this afternoon to do some research in the rarer books.” 

Noah looked around and he asked, “Where’s Peter?”

Derek explained, “He’s picking up lunch from the diner. He shouldn’t be far away.”

Stiles laughed at his dad’s hopeful look and he confirmed, “Yes, he’s getting your cheat day order. We figure today's news warranted it.” He looked down at what he was wearing, “I’m going up to get changed, mind if I raid your drawers, Sourwolf?”

Derek nodded, “Go for it, you know scent sharing helps the pack.”

Noah watched him scramble up the stairs and he asked, “Is he really ok?”

Derek laughed, “He said he’s really really fine, and stop worrying.”

“The hearing kicked in then?” Noah snarked happily. He looked at the trunk and he asked, “Will you take that to Deaton?”

Derek scowled, “Nope. He’s not to be trusted, my grandfather was very clear about that.”

Noah looked down at the claws taking note of the blood on them at both ends and he asked, “How exactly did you speak to your grandfather?”

Derek gathered up the claws and he said, “With these, they were my grandfather's claws. There is a way you can use the claws of the dead to speak to their spirits. He was very honest about a lot of things. We are also pretty sure my mother killed him for the alpha spark, and he confirmed Laura left Peter behind hoping the hunters would kill him.”

“Jesus,” Noah blanched, “Seriously, that’s beyond callous. What about Cora, did she know Cora had escaped?”

Derek shrugged, “I doubt we’ll ever know. Cora refuses point blank to talk about the fire and Laura died in human form, so no claws.”

Peter entered the loft and he commented, “Well, McCall was looking particularly spooked when I saw him near the diner.”

Noah asked, “Spooked how?”

“He seemed scared,” Peter said with a grin, “Of his own shadow.”

Derek frowned, “Why?”

Peter shrugged, “I don’t know, it just struck me as funny when I saw it. He didn’t even notice me standing there. He was staring at his shadow and it looked like he was trying to run away from it.”

Noah muttered, “Because that’s not remotely weird. What the hell is wrong with this town. Seriously.”

Derek shrugged, “Come on, let’s get the food on the table, Stiles will be back down soon.”

While they were eating Peter looked pointedly at Stiles and he asked, “So what was the ritual Stiles, the one Deaton had you all do?”

Stiles shrugged, “He evaded giving us the name. All I know is it involved a tub of ice water and we ended up under the Nemeton in a white room. It’s all a bit hazy, to be honest.”

Peter narrowed his eyes and he asked, “Was it just ice in the water? Or where there herbs in with you?”

Stiles tried to think back to that night, it was frantic and there was so much happening. He could remember seeing green in the water when he was being pushed under. “I think so, I remember seeing green across my vision as Lydia held me down.”

Noah asked angrily, “What do you mean by held you down, Stiles. You mean she held you under the water?”

Stiles nodded, “Deaton said they had to have close emotional tethers to the waking world, Scott’s was Deaton due to their mentor bond, Allison’s was Isaac because of their developing relationship, and I had Lydia.”

Derek asked sarcastically, “Because you’re great friends?”

Stiles laughed, “No, because they still think I have a crush on her. Honestly, it was awkward, but I was desperate to find my dad so I just went along with it.”

Peter scowled, “We need to look into that ritual, I want to make sure there aren’t repercussion that could bite us in the ass later.”

Stiles nodded, “We can add that to the list of things to look up in the vault. Are you coming Daddio?”

Noah shook his head, “I need to get some sleep, thankfully I have the next few days off so I can catch up. Rafe has gone back to regroup after I managed to shut down his attempt at impeachment.”

Peter asked, “How? You’re an elected official, not a hired one. To have a case for impeachment requires major corruption or premeditated multiple murders. To be honest, it sounds like he’s using his job to enact his grudge against you. I’m licensed to practice in California again, want me to help report his actions?”

“Maybe,” Noah agreed, “Come see me on Monday at the office and we’ll discuss it. Thanks for the brunch boys, I’m going to head home and get a head start on sleep. Stiles, I don’t mind if you start staying here, just let me know where you’ll be, ok?”

Stiles nodded, “Sure thing, Daddio.”


	3. Chapter Three

**October 14th, 2011**

The three men left for the vault under the school once they had cleaned up after brunch. Peter had an arrangement with Coach Finstock for access to the locker rooms after school hours. They’d decided to take the trunk with them as it would be safer in the Vault, which was largely unknown to the other supernaturals in Beacon Hills.

He led them to the hallway outside the boy's locker rooms and he stood with Stiles as Derek felt along the wall for the keyhole. 

Stiles watched Derek feel along the wall with his alpha eyes blazing and he asked, “What’s he looking for?”

Derek murmured, “The keyhole, there is a slot in the wall that is only visible to pack members.” He stood and pointed at the wall and he said, “Found it.”

Stiles approached as Derek flicked out his claws, Derek pointed out the slight depressions in the wall before he pushed his claws in and twisted, he seemed to be listening as he twisted, waiting for clicks as he turned his wrist, left, then right, slight twist left again then they all heard the click on that last right turn before the door beside the keyhole opened.

Derek pushed the pair into the tunnel before he closed the door. He said, “Head down and get started, I’m going to lock out everyone but us three for now.”

Stiles looked confused and he asked, “Won't the locking mechanism work for anyone with claws?”

Peter shook his head, “Right now the lock is keyed to anyone with Hale blood and anyone Talia added while she was alpha. Including Deaton. So if someone like Scott or Isaac tried their claws wouldn’t fit.”

Stiles muttered darkly about shortsighted power-hungry alphas while Peter laughed at him.

Peter still laughing said, “Follow me, well find somewhere safe to store the trunk then we’ll get started looking into the firefly.”

Stiles followed quietly behind Peter as he kept half an ear on Derek’s heartbeat behind him. Peter approached a wall at the end of a set of bookshelves.

Stiles stopped browsing the bookshelves when he saw Peter gazing at a seemingly blank wall, curiously he asked, “What are you doing?”

Peter commented, “There are some secrets of the vault that the alphas were never made aware of. It is where items that are considered dangerous to the pack are stored.”

Stiles grinned, “So if your sister wasn’t aware, then Deaton won’t know.”

Peter nodded, “Exactly. But we are too small a pack for it to remain a secret now though.” He pointed out a latch hidden on the wall in the shadow of the bookshelf. “Pull the ring until you feel a click and the wall should start moving.”

Stiles followed his instructions, he was finding the cloak and dagger to be a bit of fun after the last couple of shit weeks he’s had. He felt the click and the wall moved away from his hand, he glanced at Peter for permission, and when he nodded he pushed the door to open it fully.

The room itself was small, only slightly larger than a garden shed. But the shelves within on three of the four walls are full. The wall opposite the door was a large bookshelf, Stiles started to gravitate toward it, like all good bibliophiles would when presented with a bookshelf of older than time books, Peter, however, held him back and shook his head.

He picked up a pair of gloves that were sitting on the shelf nearest the door. Peter explained, “The first rule for dealing with anything in this room is never ever touch anything with your bare hands. Especially the books.”

Derek, now that he’d finally finished changing the wards, peeked into the room and he asked, “What is all this stuff, Uncle Peter?”

Peter shrugged and he said, “Mostly, well, it’s spoils of war. You’re both aware of what a left-hand does for the pack, right? Well, these are the items various Hale Pack left hands have taken from those who were threats to the pack. The books are what’s been claimed from magic-users over the years, there are often curses on the books that will activate on skin contact, hence the gloves.”

Peter passed the gloves to Derek who asked, “What are they made of?”

With a grin, Peter said, “Uncle Dante told me they were made of shed basilisk skin. The skin is thin enough to be usable as gloves while being highly resistant to curses.”

Stiles scoffed, “You’re saying basilisks are real?”

Peter laughed, “We’re werewolves, Stiles. Who’s to say the king of snakes isn’t real.”

Derek passed the gloves to Stiles who grinned, “They’re enchanted, some sort of protection.”

He put one of the gloves on and he could feel a tingle as the protection on the gloves extended up his arms. He was pretty sure if he put the other on it would cover his whole body. He asked Peter, “You don’t feel the protection when you put them on?”

Peter shook his head, “No, but I am not sensitive to magic like you obviously are. Most wolves aren’t. Do you feel this sort of thing anywhere else?”

Stiles smirked, “You mean do I feel the wards at Deaton’s clinic? Yes. They feel stickier though, like molasses. The magic on the gloves feels cleaner, lighter, definitely protective.”

“Since you have the gloves on already,” Peter motioned to the shelves, “Can you clear some space on the shelves, we need enough room for the trunk. That way we can keep the firefly encased in the ash.”

They got the trunk stashed away and Stiles started eyeing up the bookshelf. Peter, however, dragged him out of the room, only just giving him enough time to stash the gloves back on the shelf, as he said, “We’ll start on the books out here. If we can’t find anything we can start on the magic books.”

Peter started pulling books out. “Start with these, look for anything that references fireflies or even just flys in general.”

They spent a few hours going through the various books. They were bookmarking anything that seemed relevant but Peter was getting increasingly frustrated with the fact he was returning more books to the shelf than they were adding to the read later pile. 

He picked up the most recent useless book and he was about to throw it in rage when he realized he could see an aura around Stiles. “Derek?” He asked while pointedly staring at Stiles with his beta eyes flared.

Derek looked up from the book he was skimming through and he could see his Uncle staring at Stiles intently, he raised an eyebrow in question and Peter indicated with a head tilt that he should also look at Stiles with his alpha eyes while his boyfriend was distracted.

Derek flared his vibrant red eyes and when he looked at Stiles he gasped, he could see a dark blue aura around Stiles.

Stiles heard the gasp and he looked up and asked, the pair, “What? What’s wrong?”

Derek said quietly, “You have an aura, a dark blue aura. It’s beautiful.”

“Shit!” Stiles exclaimed, “If you can see it the others will see it.”

Peter laughed and he asked, “Will they though, I mean they aren’t the most observant group. Present company excluded. The only one I’d worry about would be Ms. Martin and she’s not a shifter.”

Stiles took a deep breath as he thought about it, “So, don’t worry about it unless they mention it? Should I be worried about the fact I haven’t seen any signs of a shift yet? I haven’t even reacted to either of you flashing your eyes at me and I noticed with the betas that it’s almost a reflex for them.”

Derek shook his head, “It would depend I guess on what you are. Different creatures have different progressions after a turning bite.”

Stiles muttered, “At least I’m not an overgrown lizard.” He looked across at Peter and he asked, “Do you have a bestiary?”

The wolf stood and walked to the shelves and he scanned the contents before he pulled out a large old tome. It looked like a book that had been rebound a few times if the different colors of the paper inside were anything to go by. He placed it carefully on the table and he said, “This is the most comprehensive bestiary, written by members of the Hale Pack over the years, it’s been added to as we’ve met and discovered various creatures. If we have no luck in there I have a friend in Japan who has one of the most extensive libraries who can probably help us.”

Stiles asked, “We can’t ask her first?”

Peter laughed, “Hell no, Miss. Mori is very strict about making people look for themselves before she’ll help. When we ask for help we’ll have to detail what we’ve already researched first.” He handed Stiles a legal pad and he said, “If you look it up, document it, if you find something worth looking into, document it. So on and so forth.”

Stiles nodded and he dragged the large tome over, “What’ll you be reading while I try and process all this?”

Peter said, “Well, while you and Derek work on figuring out what you are, I’m going to work on identifying what you coughed up. Because that is something I’ve not heard of before.”

Stiles suggested, “Why don’t you try and identify my creature and I go through the books looking for the ritual Deaton had us do.”

Derek asked, “Can you show me the ritual, the memory? I can go in with my claws so we can watch it together.”

The teen considered the option, as much as the ritual seemed to affect him it would be good to have a second opinion on what Deaton had him do. He asked, “What do you need me to do?”

They were sitting on a bench seat so Derek suggested, “Lean forward and rest your head on your arms, I’ll sit beside you and put my claws in. We might be there for a while so make sure you’re comfortable.”

Peter said, “Call out anything important, Derek, I have a notebook ready beside me.”

“Ok,” Derek took a deep breath and braced himself before driving his claws into Stiles’ neck. 

Stiles gasped as they fell into the memory of the ritual. He looked around the back room of the vet clinic, Derek commented, “He literally drowned you?”

Stiles nodded, “I think the herbs in the water are important.” He pointed at the three baths and he said, “They are all different. I think we should research the different herbs.”

Derek knew that his uncle would hear anything he said in the memory so he asked, “Can you name the herbs for me Stiles? Uncle Peter can write them down for us.”

Stiles nodded and he approached the tank Allison was standing beside, he examined the items in the tank and he pointed out the various herbs and flowers as he listed, “Mugwort, rowan leaves, agrimony, dill, mistletoe, and I am pretty sure that’s vervain,” He said as he pointed to a purple flower floating around the ice.

As Derek repeated the list out loud Stiles moved to Scott’s tank and he examined the contents, “Scott has mugwort, thyme, dill, pennyroyal, rue, mistletoe and star anise.”

Stiles took a deep calming breath as he walked to his own tank, he waited for Derek to finish repeating the list out loud as he examined the contents of his tank and he said, “Right, so my tank looks completely different and I really should have paid more attention. I have lobelia, elderberries, belladonna, tansy, and cinnamon.”

Derek repeated the list again before he said, “Stiles, I remember reading about elderberries, there was a story in one of the books in our library that mentioned elder shouldn’t be planted or used because it invites bad spirits or bad witches in.”

Stiles nodded, “Yep, I remember my mom telling me something similar when we were looking at a few trees for the backyard.” He watched as the three of them held their talismans and got in the tubs.

The alpha tilted his head as he tried to see what the memories version of Stiles was holding, he couldn’t quite make it out as he’d held it against the edge of the tub as he got in so he asked, “What are you holding?”

The teen didn’t answer straight away, he still found that night hard to think about. Eventually, as the three were being pushed under the water he said, “It was my dad's badge. The darach crushed it and left it at the school when she tried to kill Lydia and kidnapped Dad. I had to hammer it out a bit so it was recognizable. Deaton said to replace our parents in the five fold knot, we needed symbolic keys to link us to our parents. I can explain that part and the link to the person pushing us under after.”

They watched as the clinic room faded away and they appeared in the white room. 

Derek swore, “Fuck, I think this is Limbo. What happened while you were here?”

They watched the three teens approach the tree stump and Stiles said, “Each of us touched the Nemeton and we had a vision of the last time we were near it. As soon as we woke we all knew where our parents were being held.” 

Derek whispered, “I really hated my mother that night, I used to know where the Nemeton was, it’s where Paige died and Peter and I used the root cellar under it to hide from hunters. Mom used her alpha claws to take the knowledge of its location from us both not long after Paige’s death.”

Stiles frowned and he asked, “Why? That tree is important to your pack, to this area, why hide it?”

Derek shrugged as he said, “I don’t know, I still remember the time in the root cellar, but not how I got there.”

Stiles asked, “You said this was limbo, what did you mean?”

With a shake of the head, Derek ignored the question before he asked, “Does anything else happen? Or are we done?”

Stiles said, “This is it really, we each touched the stump and had visions that showed us where we last saw it, I’m not sure how long the visions took but mine showed me the night Scott was bitten, when my dad and the deputies found me I was only a few feet away from the Nemeton. I don’t think we can learn anything else.”

“Ok,” Derek pulled his claws out of Stiles’ neck and wiped away the blood as he watched the wounds heal. “Well, your healing has kicked in.”

Peter gestured to Stiles’ hands and he said, “Claws too, they came out a few times while you were in his head. They were a bit smaller but seemed sharper than ours.”

Stiles asked, “How do you know they are sharper?”

Peter pointed at the gouges in the table and he then pulled out his own claw and made a gouge beside the ones Stiles had made. “Smaller but deeper gouges.”

Stiles felt the gouges then he concentrated and tried to release his claws. Peter could see he needed a shock to shift so he reached fast across the table and aimed his claws at Stiles' throat.

Stiles shifted fast with a clawed hand grabbing Peter’s arm before his hand could get close.

Peter snarked, “You’ll need to get that under control if you don’t want the puppies to find out.”

Stiles dropped Peter’s arm in shock before he started to examine his hands and the claws poking out of his fingertips. Derek held up his hand beside Stiles’ to compare the two as he said, “Well they definitely aren’t wolf claws, not sure what they are though. Peter, did you see his eyes?”

Peter nodded as he was writing down what he noticed, “Like galaxies swirling, all dark blues and purples.” He pulled out his phone and he said, “I wonder if his eyes set off the lens flare like ours?”

He took a photo of Stiles as he was gazing around at the various books both with the flash off then with the flash on. As he was comparing the photos he said, “No lens flare, but his aura shows up under the flash.” He passed the phone to Stiles who was curious about what the two wolves could see.

“Ok,” Stiles said slowly, “I’m going to need to get my eyes under control, there is no way they’ll miss this. As awesome as they look they are obvious as fuck.”

Peter and Derek both nodded in agreement and Derek offered, “We can work on it so you can at least feel the difference so you can close your eyes until you’re under control. For now, I want to look into the herbs and flowers that were in your tubs. Something is twigging a memory but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

Peter tapped a pile of books and he said, “You mean how both Scott and Allison had mugwort and mistletoe, both are herbs that are added in rituals to ward the participants from evil. I grabbed the books while you were talking about Limbo." At their looks of confusion, he clarified, "The large white room that seemed to go on for miles?”

Stiles nodded and with a bit of a croak he agreed, “Yeah, you know it?”

“I was there after I died,” He explained, “I still had a tether to the waking world so I was stuck until Lydia did the ritual on the night of the Worm Moon. Now, Derek asked you at some point what you were holding. What was it?”

Stiles explained, “It was his badge, the darach, Jennifer, had crushed it when she kidnapped him from the school. Deaton said we needed a key, something that was important to the one we were replacing in the surrogate sacrifice.”

Derek nodded, “He also said that it would work as a beacon, and attract more supernatural things to Beacon Hills. And there was a warning about the three of them having a darkness around their hearts like a scar.” He rolled his eyes, “More of Deaton’s cryptic bullshit that gives us no actual useful information.”

Peter flicked through the books in the pile making notes as he found relevant information, “Right, so we’ve established that Deaton knew the location of the Nemeton. So that leads me to extrapolate that he needed something from this ritual. It needed the three of you so you could void your parent's place in the ritual, but going by the list of what was in the tubs with you, Scott and Allison were protected from harm but you weren’t. From what I can figure out from this list the mugwort and lobelia were there for the same reason, which is to open you up to spiritual guidance, divination so to speak. But that’s where the similarities end, mugwort protects the mind, lobelia opens it.”

Stiles slumped at the table, “So the things I thought were symptoms were more than likely the after-effects of whatever the ritual actually did. What about the other stuff that was in my tub?”

Peter listed off, “So according to various plant lore tomes, lobelia enhances spirit communication and connection, elder invites bad spirits in, belladonna is for silence, tansy is for hostile thoughts or a declaration of war, and cinnamon is for spirit evocation.”

Stiles said quietly, “Possession, he wanted something to possess me. Something specific? It’s not worth asking, we all know Deaton will never actually admit it.”

Derek snarled, “What I want to know is what the hell can possess a person via a firefly. And why did it leave when I bit Stiles.”

Stiles chuckled, “Question marks, Babe. They are a thing you need.”

Derek blushed and he whispered, “Shut up Red.”

Stiles stood and started going through the shelves looking for ritual books as he said, “We need to look into surrogate rituals while Peter looks into possession by insect?”

Peter agreed, “Sounds good. I was thinking another hour of going through the books before we head back to the Stilinski house for dinner and to update the sheriff on what we’ve found so far.”


	4. Chapter Four

**October 17th, 2011**

They spent the weekend researching and while they had narrowed down the options they were no closer to answers on what Stiles was, or what he coughed up.

He also hadn’t shifted yet, forced or otherwise. He had gained enhanced hearing, sight, reflexes, strength, and the ever-present aura. Derek confirmed the aura was always there but only noticeable when he was using his alpha eyes. 

Stiles decided he would go out of his way to avoid the pack as much as possible. Not a difficult prospect, the only time the pack hung out with him these days was if they needed research done. Since they dealt with the alpha pack and the darach, things had been pretty quiet. Knock on wood.

He arrived at school on Monday and he found the former alpha twins arguing with Scott and Isaac. He hung back and listened in as Scott and Isaac needled the twins as they asked to join Scott’s pack. Isaac kept poking about how they liked to maim and kill, as one of them, Aiden he thought, started to shift in anger. He froze as he caught sight of Stiles watching silently.

Stiles shook his head and put his finger to his lips in the universal sign of silence. He let his brother hold him back as Stiles watched Isaac basically poke at his emotional sore spots. Before they walked into the school Scott said pompously, “We don’t trust you, so no, you won’t be joining our pack.”

Stiles stayed put by the jeep and he watched as Ethan turned to his brother, sighed and he asked, “What now?”

Stiles said quietly, “Do you want Scott as your alpha or are you open to other options?”

Aidan stared at him from across the parking lot and to test the human, he said just as quietly, “We asked McCall because we heard he was fair.”

Stiles smirked and he murmured, “Scotty can be fair. But mostly he has a very black and white view of the world, good versus evil. If you’re good, he’ll love you, but once you’re not good, you’re evil and nothing will change his view on that.”

Aidan muttered, “They don’t know about you do they, are you are keeping secrets from your pack?”

Stiles said quickly and a little louder than intended, “They,” He gestured angrily to the teens who had disappeared into the school, “Are not my pack. They only ever speak to me when they want something, that’s not how a pack works.”

Showing his smarts Ethan tilted his head and he said, “You have a pack though. Don’t you?”

Stiles nodded and he looked at the school where Scott and Isaac had entered without even sparing him a glance, even though they had to have heard the jeep arrive with its dodgy exhaust system. He gave the twins a calculating glance before he said, “Fuck it. Follow me if you want to talk to a reasonable alpha.”

Trusting that the twins would probably follow him he got in the Jeep and left the school without looking to make sure they followed. He called his dad on the way to the loft and asked him to call the school and let them know he was sick for the day.

He grinned when he saw the two bikes following him from the school. He considered calling Derek but figured the surprise would be worth it.

He motioned for them to enter the elevator before he would answer any questions. As they went to the top floor Ethan asked, “I thought Hale gave up his alpha spark?”

Stiles nodded, “You’re right, he did. We’ll explain once we’re inside.” He opened the sliding door and he called out, “Derek? Peter? Anyone home?”

Derek heard three heartbeats from upstairs so he skipped the stairs and jumped from the upper level. “Stiles? What's going on?”

Stiles looked back at the twin beta wolves and he explained, “I overheard a conversation between these guys and the McCall pack. Well, Scott and Isaac, the posturing was painful to watch.”

Peter had settled in his usual place on the stairs and he asked, “Let me guess, the McCall Pack doesn’t want them? Even after all they did to atone for what they did?”

Stiles snapped his fingers in Peter’s direction and he agreed, “Ten points to Slytherin. Oh, and it came with a side dish of we don’t trust you.”

Peter chuckled, “Sound’s about right.” He stood and approached the nervous twins as Derek checked on his mate.

Derek murmured, “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

Stiles shrugged half-heartedly, “I couldn’t face the bullshit. Scott was on his high horse and it was fixing to be another day of being ignored and pushed to the side due to my apparent humanness. Jackson had the right idea when he got the hell outta dodge.”

Derek pulled his younger mate into a hug and gave him a gentle kiss, he then turned to the twins and after everyone had taken a seat he asked, “So you’re looking for an alpha?”

They nodded, and Ethan said, “We just want a safe and healthy pack.”

Peter asked, “You were the pack omegas?”

Aiden nodded angrily, “First in our birth pack, then we were treated as the pack omegas by Deucalion after he forced us to join him.”

“The Steiner Pack, right?” Peter asked, “Talia knew you were being mistreated but refused to step in as she had an alliance with your alpha. She also alpha ordered me to do nothing.”

Derek facepalmed, “Seriously. The more I learn about my mother it makes sense that the spark was so corrupted by the time I got it.”

Peter laughed, “She put on a good public mask of being a fair and kind alpha.”

Stiles asked, “I thought Omega just meant a wolf without a pack?”

Derek said, “It’s a derogatory term used in some packs for the wolves at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. They are often abused and mistreated. The Hale Pack has never and will never have omegas.”

Peter coughed, “That’s not entirely accurate.”

Stiles agreed, “Laura and your mother treated Peter like an omega. How else do you explain him being left under his real name at a human hospital after the fire? Anyway, that’s beside the point. The twins?”

Derek asked, “Do you mind joining a small pack?”

Aiden grinned, “Small sounds good, to be honest. Is it just the three of you?”

Derek shook his head, and he clarified, “Four, two wolves, a very human sheriff, and whatever Stiles is.”

Stiles laughed, “Yeah, we are still working on figuring that out.”

Ethan asked, “You took the bite?”

The teen nodded, “Yep, I was showing symptoms of the illness that killed my mother.”

Peter had an idea, so he interrupted, “Would you be willing to go back to school?”

“For what?” Ethan asked, “I mean we could, as long as I don’t have to take math class.”

Aiden grinned, “I’ll take your math classes if you take my science requirement. I’m sure Danny can rig it so the classes don’t overlap. If he’s still talking to you.”

Stiles offered, “If he’s not, I can try asking. I haven’t pissed him off lately, I’m also pretty sure he knows what’s going on even if he’s not been told directly. I’ll also help with any tutoring if you need or want it.”

Ethan asked, “Won’t he notice that we smell like you all?”

Stiles laughed, “That would require him to use his senses. Which he doesn’t. Isaac might, but he doesn’t know we aren’t part of Scott’s pack, so he won’t think to say anything.”

Aiden chuckled, “The blind leading the blond.”

The alpha shook his head, “I tried to teach them. They just didn’t listen.”

Stiles shook his head, “No, they were getting conflicting information from a certain druid. Well Scotty was, and he was passing that on to your pups.”

“You’re not going to try and get your beta back?” Ethan asked quietly, “Wouldn’t you want more betas?”

Derek shook his head, “Since I got my spark back I don’t have that same urge to make or even have betas. I have Peter and Stiles and a pack bond to the sheriff. That seems to have been enough to satisfy my wolf.”

Aiden asked, “So why take us on then?”

With a smile, Derek said, “You need a pack, and I trust Stiles’ judgment and he seems to trust you enough to bring you to our den. So what do you say?”

Ethan said, “We’re in,” Aiden tried to protest but Ethan added, “Look, I don’t trust McCall, he hasn’t been a wolf for long enough to know how to train his betas so he’s likely to use and abuse us as the muscle. I want a pack that treats us like a pack should.”

Aiden agreed and he said, “I’m in too.” He looked at Peter, “You want extra eyes on Stiles at school, right?”

Peter nodded, “I don’t trust McCall or his pack not to harm Stiles. They haven’t treated him well in the past when he was 100% human, and we have decided we don’t want them knowing he's taken the bite.”

Derek agreed, “Especially while we don’t know what he’s turned to. I haven’t seen a wolf with an aura before so we doubt it’s a wolf. He hasn’t fully shifted yet, the only evidence he’s changed is his senses, strength, and the dark blue aura around him.”

Ethan frowned, he hadn’t yet seen the aura, “What aura?”

Aiden grinned, “Use your wolf eyes and look at him, it’s like a cloud around him.”

“Wow,” Ethan grinned, “That’s cool. It reminds me of something I read in our library. Damn, I wish I could remember the book.”

Aiden asked, “Didn’t they move the books to the cellar before Deucalion killed them? Technically we still own the house so we could go recover them. It’s only a few hours drive.”

Stiles nudged Derek, “We could take your soccer mom mobile for a drive, Sourwolf.”

Derek growled, “It’s not a soccer mom car, Stiles! It’s a Toyota with room to carry more than two people. But yes we could use it for a road trip since you aren’t going to school today?”

“Dad already called me out,” Stiles said, “After overhearing the conversation between Scott, Isaac, and the twins, I just couldn’t trust myself to keep my temper. With my luck, it’ll be me losing my temper at Scott or one of his pack that’ll bring out my shift.”

Derek agreed, “Right, so road trip?”

Peter shook his head, “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the Sheriff. I don’t trust McCall the elder to stay away from him. We have plans to go through what Agent McCall has been doing, we want to see if anything is incriminating enough to be escalated to his bosses.”

Derek nodded, “Sounds good. Sounds like McCall the elder is just as bad as the son.”

Stiles agreed, “Willing to hold a grudge, ignores the rules, angry at the world for his own actions. Sums them both up nicely.” He turned to the twins, “So, where are we going?”

“Grant Grove,” Aiden said, “The Grant Pack founded the town and the main pack house is just outside the village.”

Ethan said, “We should contact our lawyer while we’re there, he wants to sell off some of the pack houses. About half the village belonged to the pack, we were the last surviving pack members and were found not at fault in the death of our pack, so we inherited everything. The houses and businesses are currently being rented, Deucalion’s idea, I’m not sure of the details though.”

Peter offered, “Why don’t you call him on the drive down. It’s about three hours from here. I went down with Talia a few times before the fire.”

Stiles stood and grabbed the keys for the Toyota, “I’ll text dad on the way to let him know what’s going on. Let’s go, daylights a-wasting.”

The lawyer was happy to hear from them. He’d been trying to get in touch but he only had Deucalion’s number. He told them to stop in when they got to town, he’d be waiting for them.

On the drive down Ethan tried to explain why they stayed in the alpha pack, “Deucalion was a bad guy, we know that. But he tried to look after us and protect us. He took the time to train us in how to use that merging ability we have. Kali, and to a lesser degree Ennis were the loose cannons, and I think if Kali had half a chance, she would have killed us both.”

Stiles asked, “Was your old pack pretty bad?”

Aiden snarled, “Our uncle made Deucalion look like a saint in how he treated us. Alpha Duncan Grant, we were the whipping boys for the pack. He considered twins unnatural, he blamed us for the fact that his sister nearly died in childbirth.”

“Wow,” Stiles said, “That does make Deucalion sound like a better option. Speaking of the formerly blind alpha, have you spoken to him since Scott kicked him out of town?”

Aiden nodded, “He wished us luck. He said he was going to find himself. Whatever that means.”

Peter suggested, “Maybe the darach accidentally restored more than his sight. Stranger things have happened.”

Derek asked, “Feel free to stay in touch with him if it’s what you want.”

The twins grinned and both said together, “Thank you, Alpha.”

**Author's Note:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


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